Abstract
Partially rooted in British colonial ethnology and administration, the ethnic categories of the 2014 Myanmar census have attracted controversy, particularly from representatives of non-Burman political organizations. The categories themselves, as well as the bureaucratic exercise of the census, have a complex genealogy which offers considerable insight into understanding the contemporary situation. Drawing from Hirschman's theory that the study of measurements of ethnicity is a unique resource for understanding the meaning of ethnicity in a society, this article discusses the controversy surrounding the 2014 census, and how some census-related issues have been crucially framed by bureaucratic structures that came before.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-28 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |
| Volume | 171 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |